revelation lesson 14 class notes - … · revelation ― lesson 14 ... judea, spain, gaul, egypt,...

Revelation ― Lesson 14Our handout this week is a summary of what we discussed near theend of class last week. As you recall, the mighty angel who opensChapter 10, stands on sea and land, raises his right hand, and swearsa solemn oath that that “there should be no more delay, but that in thedays of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mys-tery of God, as he announced to his servants the prophets, should befulfilled.” We discussed the meaning of “mystery” in that statement,and I proposed a broad understanding of the term that includes theentire scheme of redemption from A to Z, where A started before cre-ation and Z ends with the fulfillment of the prophecies about Rome.

Why choose that particular Z as our ending point? Because that event(whenever we date it) marks the final fulfillment of every prophecythat had to be fulfilled before Jesus could return again. Paul told us asmuch in 2 Thessalonians 2:2-4 when he wrote, “for that day shall notcome, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin berevealed, the son of perdition.”

A question left open on the handout is whether that dividing line oc-curred with the death of the evil emperor Domitian in A.D. 96 or withthe sacking of Rome and the later fall of Rome in the fifth century (orperhaps some other event regarding Rome). If you had asked me thatquestion when I first taught this class back in 1991, I would have toldyou it was fall of Rome in A.D. 476. Today, I am leaning more towardthe fall of Domitian in A.D. 96. Here is how that latter event was de-scribed by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 7:23-27 ―

us he said, e fourth bea shall be thefourth kingdom upon earth, which shall bediverse om all kingdoms, and shall devourthe whole earth, and shall tread down, andbreak in pieces. And the ten horns out ofthis kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:and another shall rise aer them; and heshall be diverse om the fir, and he shallsubdue thr kings. And he shall eak great

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words again the mo High, and shall wearout the saints of the mo High, and think tochange times and laws: and they shall be veninto his hand until a time and times and thedividing of time. But the judgment shalls, and they shall take away his dominion,to consume and to deroy unto the end.And the kingdom and dominion, and thegreatness of the kingdom under the wholeheaven, shall be ven to the people of thesaints of the mo High, whose kingdom isan everlaing kingdom, and all dominionsshall serve and obey him.

We will consider this question much more closely as we proceedthrough the remainder of the book.

10:8 Then the voice which I had heardfrom heaven spoke to me again, saying,“Go, take the scroll which is open in thehand of the angel who is standing on thesea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the an-gel and told him to give me the littlescroll; and he said to me, “Take it and eat;it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweetas honey in your mouth.” 10 And I tookthe little scroll from the hand of the angeland ate it; it was sweet as honey in mymouth, but when I had eaten it my stom-ach was made bitter. 11 And I was told,“You must again prophesy about manypeoples and nations and tongues andkings.”

John is not given the book, but instead he is told to take it. This dis-tinction emphasizes his commitment to undertake the responsibilityof recording and presenting God’s message. This part of the visionreminds us of Jeremiah 15:16 (“Your words were found, and I atethem”) and of Ezekiel 2:8 - 3:3 ―

But you, son of man, hear what I say to you.Do not be rebellious like that rebellious


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house; open your mouth and eat what I veyou.” Now when I looked, there was a handretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of abook was in . en He read before me;and there was wring on the inside and onthe outside, and wrten on were lamenta-tions and mourning and w. Moreover Hesaid to me, Son of man, eat what you find;eat this scroll, and go, eak to the house ofIsrl.” So I opened my mouth, and Hecaused me to eat that scroll. And He said tome, Son of man, fd your belly, and fillyour omach wh this scroll that I ve you.”So I ate, and was in my mouth like honeyin swtness.

As did Jeremiah and Ezekiel, John eats the book to signify his accep-tance of this responsibility. He makes the message a part of himself.

The scroll was bitter. Why? Because it contained some bad news —the church would suffer great persecution. It was also bitter for Johnto prophesy of the destruction that would befall the wicked world.

But, the scroll was also sweet. The church would ultimately triumphover Rome, and, just as Daniel had foretold, the eternal kingdom ofGod would sweep away all the kingdoms of this world.

Verse 11 tells us that John would prophesy about many peoples andnations and tongues and kings. Except for “kings” in place of “tribes,”these are the same categories from which the saints were purchasedin 5:9. How does the language in verse 11 of peoples and nations fitwith the notion that this book is largely about a single nation, Rome?

The Roman empire was composed of many peoples and nations andtongues and kings. Rome at various times in its history conqueredand thus included the Sabines, the Etruscans, the Sicilians, the Berbertribes of North Africa, the Illirians, Carthage, Macedonia, Syria,Judea, Spain, Gaul, Egypt, much of what is now Great Britain, the Da-cians, Lybia, and the Parthians. That list is made up of many peoplesand nations and tongues and kings!


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At the end of class last week, a question was asked abut whether thelittle book eaten by John could have been the book of Revelation itself,or rather a symbolic depiction of the book since John is seeing it in avision. It is possible. What little we know about the little book fitswell — both are revelations given by God to John, both were “eaten”by John in the sense that John was given the responsibility to conveytheir contents, both contained things that were bitter and things thatwere sweet. Another possibility is that the little scroll is a summaryof the vision. This view fits well with the description of the book as“little,” and it fits well with the following chapter, which many see as asummary of the remainder of the book.

Chapter Eleven

1 Then I was given a measuring rod like astaff, and I was told: “Rise and measurethe temple of God and the altar and thosewho worship there, 2 but do not measurethe court outside the temple; leave thatout, for it is given over to the nations, andthey will trample over the holy city for


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forty-two months. 3 And I will grant mytwo witnesses power to prophesy for onethousand two hundred and sixty days,clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the twoolive trees and the two lampstands whichstand before the Lord of the earth.

Barclay: “It has been said that [Chapter 11] is at one and the sametime the most difficult and the most important chapter in Revelation.”(I’m not certain I agree with either assessment.)

Chapter 11 begins by considering the question of what was to becomeof the faithful servants of God during these great trials and judg-ments. And we see yet another description of this group — this timeas a measured temple of worshipers, separated from the world andunder God’s protection.

What is the purpose of the measuring rod? In Ezekiel’s vision of therestored temple, a measuring rod was used to make a separation be-tween what is holy and what is common. Recall Ezekiel 42:19–20 ―

en he turned to the we side andmeasured, five hundred cubs by themeasuring rd. He measured on the foursides. It had a wall around , five hundredcubs long and five hundred cubs broad, tomake a separation ben the holy and thecommon.

We are also reminded of Zechariah 2:1-5 ―

I lied up mine eyes again, and looked, andbehold a man wh a measuring line in hishand. en said I, Whher g thou? Andhe said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, tos what is the breadth thereof, and what isthe length thereof. And, behold, the angelthat talked wh me went forth, and anotherangel went out to mt him, And said untohim, Run, eak to this young man, saying,Jerusalem shall be inhabed as towns whoutwalls for the multude of men and caletherein: For I, sah the LORD, will be unto


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her a wall of fire round about, and will be theglory in the mid of her.

The separation between the holy and the profane also reminds us of 2Corinthians 6:17-18 ―

Wherefore come out om among them, andbe ye separate, sah the Lord, and touch notthe unclean thing; and I will receive you,And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall bemy sons and daughters, sah the LordAlmigh.

What is John told to measure? The temple, the altar, and those whoworship there. The word for temple here indicates the inner sanctu-ary where only priests were allowed. It is not the Greek word denot-ing the entire temple with all of its buildings, courts, and porches.

Which temple is John to measure? Is it the Jewish temple inJerusalem? Some commentators consider this verse evidence that thebook was written before the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. But we mustremember that John is seeing a vision, and objects can exist in a vi-sion whether or not they exist on earth. Because so much of John’simagery has come from the Old Testament, it is very possible that thetemple he sees here is the sanctuary of the Old Testament tabernacle.That sanctuary had only one court, and, as Hebrews tells us, was atype of the church.

This temple is the church. Recall Paul’s description of the church inEphesians 2:18–22 ―

For through him we both have access by oneSpir unto the Father. Now therefore ye areno more rangers and foreigners, but fellow-cizens wh the saints, and of the householdof God; And are built upon the foundationof the apoles and prophets, Jesus Chrihimself being the chief corner one; Inwhom all the building fitly amed togethergroweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: Inwhom ye also are builded together for anhabation of God through the Spir.


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All Christians are now priests (Revelation 1:6). We all have access tothe inner sanctuary. As we just read in Ephesians, God’s place ofhabitation is now among men. Recall 1 Peter 2: 5― “Ye also, as live-ly stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer upspiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”

The church was sealed in 7:3, the church was numbered in 7:4, andnow the church is measured in Chapter 11. Does God care what hap-pens to the church? Absolutely! These images show God taking greatinterest in and care of his church. He marks them, he numbers them,he measures them. And God’s measurement is the only one that mat-ters. It does not matter how the world measures us, and it does notmatter how we measure ourselves. What matters is how Godmeasures us. If we fall short on his scale, it matters not how we fall onthe scales of men.

What is the court in verse 2? The ancient tabernacle had one court(Exodus 27:9). Solomon’s temple had an inner court (1 Kings 6:36),an outer court (1 Kings 7:12), a court for the priests (2 Chronicles4:9), and an upper court (Jeremiah 36:10). Herod’s temple also hadmultiple courts, with the great court eventually being called the courtof the Gentiles because it was open to everyone.

The temple in John’s vision has only one court as far as we are told,and John is told not to measure that court — that is, not to protect it orseparate it from what was common. The Greek word translated“leave that out” in verse 2 can literally mean to cast out by force.

What is represented by this outer court? One popular view is that themeasured temple denotes the faithful in the church, and the outercourt denotes those who prove unfaithful and who compromise withthe world by following the doctrines of Balaam, Jezebel, and the Nico-laitans. That is possible, but it is also possible that the measuredtemple denotes that spiritual part of a Christian’s life that is hiddenwith God in Christ and that in this book is viewed as already residingin Heaven, and the outer court denotes the physical life of the Christ-ian under Roman persecution, something that would be temporaryboth from the standpoint of Rome and from the standpoint of ourlimited time here on earth. I favor this second view because it seems


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to me that Revelation has already made the division between thefaithful and the faithless in the church, with the latter already beingplace firmly in Rome’s camp as those who dwell upon the earth.

God is telling the church that it will soon undergo a period of intensepersecution but that it will be sustained. Rome will be allowed totrample the church for awhile but it will not be allowed to destroy itsheart; that is, its inner sanctuary.

God is telling the church that he will not permit it to be annihilated,and that must have been a real fear for Christians at this time. Howcould the church withstand mighty Rome? It must have appeared tomany as if the church would soon be completely wiped out.

Do we have similar fears today? It is easy to become discouragedwhen we look at the state of the Lord’s church today in a world thatseems to be in free fall, and sometimes seems to be carrying thechurch down with it. “When the Son of man cometh, shall he findfaith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8) Yes — but only if we are faithful andonly if we pass that faith on to others through our faithful proclama-tion of the gospel. We should not be discouraged because we are inthe minority because God’s people have always been a minority onthis earth except for two times — just after creation and just after theflood. But if we ever stop proclaiming the word of God to a lost andhostile world, then we have good cause to be discouraged, and the an-swer to Jesus’ question in Luke 18:8 may be “no.”

Why was the trampling to last 42 months? This period of time is thesame as 1260 days (42 months of 30 days each) and is also found inRevelation 12:6 where it is also called “time, times and half a time”(Revelation 12:14); that is, three and one half years (12 months times3 years plus 6 additional months).

As elsewhere in Revelation, this time period should not be interpretedliterally but instead is used to symbolize a state of affairs. To deter-mine what state of affairs is depicted, we should first consider whatall that symbol is used to describe:


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• It is the period during which the holy city will be trampled in11:2.

• It is the period during which the witnesses will prophecy in11:3.

• It is the period during which the woman will be nourishedin the wilderness in 12:6, 14.

• It is the duration of the beast’s authority in 13:5.

• In Daniel 7:25 and 12:7 it is the period of time during whichthe little horn will persecute God’s people.

We haven’t studied all of those texts yet, but in each of them the sym-bol 3½ depicts a period of time during which God’s people will bepersecuted yet sustained. That is, the symbol depicts a temporarypersecution.

Why is 42 months used to depict a temporary persecution? We couldask the same question about 1260 days. The solution appears whenwe note that 42 months and 1260 days are each equal to 3½ years,which is a broken 7.

Why not always use 3½ years? Why are 42 months used sometimes,and 1260 days used at other times? It may be that going from years tomonths and even to days makes the same time period look even moretemporary. Others say that days are used here to denote the day today activities of the two servants as they prophesy about God.

We have seen the number 7 used many times in this book to denotesomething that is perfect and total. In fact, this book is constructedaround the number 7― the letters to the 7 churches, the 7 seals, the 7trumpets, the 7 thunders, the 7 bowls of the God’s wrath. So it is notsurprising to discover that some of the most important symbols inthis book are keyed to the number 7. Later we will see 666, which isone such symbol. Here we see another such symbol, 3½.

If God’s judgment of Rome is a 7, then Rome’s persecution of thechurch is just a 3½. Isn’t that a beautiful symbol? Rome can’t pour 7


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bowls of wrath on the church! Rome doesn’t have 7 of anything to useas a weapon against the church!

By saying that the persecution will last 3½ years, God is saying thatthe persecution is temporary. He is not giving them a specific date3½ years later when it will end. (Although we should pause to notethat at least once God used the symbolic 3½ for the duration of a liter-al event — the 3½ year drought brought about by the prayer of Elijahdiscussed in James 5:17.)

Who are the two witnesses? Many different answers have been pro-posed to that question, including Moses and Elijah or Enoch and Eli-jah. Some say they denote the Old and New Testaments, while otherssay they denote the prophets and the apostles. Others say that thetwo witnesses are the apostles and the Holy Spirit, and they point toJohn 15:26 for support ―

But when the Comforter is come, whom Iwill send unto you om the Father, even theSpir of truth, which procdeth om theFather, he shall tei of me: And ye alsoshall bear wness, because ye have bn whme om the benning.

In my opinion, the two witnesses once again describe the church. Butyou sound like a broken record! Can this symbol really be yet anothersymbol for the church? It is starting to seem like nearly every symbolwe come to somehow describes the church! Exactly! And that is howit seemed to its first century audience as well. They were left withprecisely the impression that God wanted them to have — the churchis so important to God and so loved by God that he is constantlylooking at it and caring for it and thinking about it! Jesus is in lovewith his church! If you ever doubt that, read Revelation!

But on what basis can say that the two witnesses denote the church?In verse 4, they are called two olive trees and two lampstands. InZechariah 4 two olive trees are used to denote two anointed ones whostand by the Lord of the whole earth. They are Zerubbabel of the royalline and Joshua, a priest. What is it that combines both the priest-hood and royalty? The church is a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:9)


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The church is a kingdom of priests. (Revelation 1:6) And as for thelampstands, remember that the seven churches in Chapters 2 and 3were depicted as golden lampstands.

But why are there two witnesses? Although there are many differentsymbols for the church in this book, each shows us the church from adifferent perspective. Here the focus is on the testimony of thechurch. These two witnesses testify, and two is the number of con-firmed testimony.

• John #:"* It is also written in your law, that the testimonyof two men is true.

• Deuteronomy "*:) At the mouth of two witnesses, or threewitnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death;but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

• John (:&"–&! If I bear witness to myself, my testimony isnot true; there is another who bears witness to me, and Iknow that the testimony which he bears to me is true.

• Matthew "#:") But if he does not listen, take one or twoothers along with you, that every word may be confirmed bythe evidence of two or three witnesses.

• Luke "%:" After these things the Lord appointed other sev-enty also, and sent them two and two before his face intoevery city and place, whither he himself would come.

• " Timothy (:"$ Against an elder receive not an accusation,but before two or three witnesses.

Why do the two witnesses prophecy in sackcloth? Sackcloth was acoarse fabric woven from goat or camel hair, and it was worn at timesor mourning or penitence. It was also the characteristic attire of theOld Testament prophets.

What is very clear in this depiction is that the church continued tooperate even while being persecuted. Rome may have trampled thechurch, but Rome was not able to stop the church. The proclamationof the gospel continued despite Rome’s best efforts to stamp it out.


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Once again, we have a lesson for the church today. God is dependingon his church to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Hehas given us that great commission, and he expects us to do it. If wedo not do it, then it will not be done. Even in the darkest hours of per-secution, God expected the church to continue its mission — and itdid. What excuse will we have if we are ever found to have failed inthat mission? If they preached Christ in the face of death, then howwill God respond if we fail to preach Christ in the face of ridicule?

To sum up, so far in Chapter 11, John has been told to measure thetemple of God, and two witnesses have been sent out to prophecy for3½ years. The message in a nutshell is that the church is going to bepersecuted but that persecution will be temporary. Although Romewill trample the church for a short time, the spiritual strength of thechurch will not be harmed.

5 And if any one would harm them, firepours out from their mouth and consumestheir foes; if any one would harm them,thus he is doomed to be killed. 6 Theyhave power to shut the sky, that no rainmay fall during the days of their proph-esying, and they have power over the wa-ters to turn them into blood, and to smitethe earth with every plague, as often asthey desire. 7 And when they have fin-ished their testimony, the beast that as-cends from the bottomless pit will makewar upon them and conquer them and killthem, 8 and their dead bodies will lie inthe street of the great city which is alle-gorically called Sodom and Egypt, wheretheir Lord was crucified.

The two witnesses are at first pictured as unstoppable. Anyone whoharms them is doomed to be killed. They, like Elijah and Elisha, havethe power to shut the sky that no rain may fall. They, like Moses andAaron, have the power to smite the earth with plagues.


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But in verses 7 and 8 it seems that this pair was not unstoppable afterall. The beast from the bottomless pit makes war on the witnessesand conquers and kills them.

Is this defeat a permanent defeat? No. The beast (which we will latersee is Rome) does not have a final victory over the church. We knowthis, if for no other reason, because Daniel told us so 600 years beforethese events occurred. Daniel 7:23–27 tells us about the church’svictory over Rome, and verse 27 concludes:

And the kingdom and the dominion and thegreatness of the kingdoms under the wholeheaven shall be ven to the people of thesaints of the Mo High; their kingdom shallbe an everlaing kingdom, and all dominionsshall serve and obey them.

We also know from verse 2 that this apparent victory will not last.Rome was to trample the holy city for only 3½ years.

Rome may have believed it would be victorious. Rome may have ap-peared to all the world to be victorious. The church may have eventhought that Rome was going to be victorious. And so, for now, Romeis pictured as being victorious. But, as we will soon see, that victory isonly an illusion. As terrible as the beast was, it could not stop thechurch. It could kill the witnesses and seek to destroy their work, butthere would be only one permanent defeat, and it would be the defeat ofRome.

Why show their defeat at all if it’s not a real defeat? One word― dra-ma! This is the part of the show where it looks like the hero is deadfor sure! How will he ever get out of this one? Those who think weneed to add drama to the worship assembly with dramatic music ordramatic performances need to take a look at Revelation! The Bible isdramatic without any help from us!

What is the great city in verse 8? It is “allegorically called Sodom andEgypt, where their Lord was crucified.” Thus, allegorically, it is calledthree cities or nations — Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem (the citywhere the Lord was crucified).


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What is the allegory for each of these locales? Rome, like Sodom, wasa center of iniquity. Rome, like Egypt, oppressed and persecutedGod’s people. Rome, like Jerusalem, promoted a false religion.

I say the allegory extends to three locales, but it most likely actually ex-tends to a fourth — Babylon. The city here is called great, and Baby-lon is called “great” 10 times in Revelation. For example, in 14:8, weread, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made allnations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Rome, likeBabylon, persecuted God’s people and promoted a false religion.

But shouldn’t we take verse 8 as a literal identification of the greatcity? How can we? The most immediate problem is that three andpossible four locales are given. Which one is the great city? A secondproblem is that one of the locales, Egypt, is not a city. And if we takethis symbol literally, why stop there? Why not then take all of the oth-ers symbols in this chapter literally? The descriptions of the great cityare symbolic, just like the other descriptions in this book.

Lenski wrote:

Here Jerusalem is to be taken ideally, as theheadquarters of all anti-Chriiany. eaual cy became such a symbol when cru-cified Chri and never repented and wasthen razed to the ground.

Hailey wrote:

John ss this great cy as a irual Sodomin s moral depravy, as an Ept holding allpeople in bondage to lu and sin, and as aJerusalem that rejeed truth and put to deaththe author of truth.

The message to the church in all of this was that the church was goingto suffer just as Christ himself suffered. Rome was, in effect, trying tocast Jesus outside of the city gates just as Jerusalem had done.

Are we surprised by that message? We shouldn’t be. Our own coun-try is doing the same thing. We are throwing Jesus out of our schools,out of our government, and out of our public and social discourse.


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The courts have turned freedom of religion into freedom from religion.Those who lead public prayers are often told not to mention the nameof Jesus in their prayer. He is no more welcome in our society than hewas in Jerusalem or in Rome — and his followers should expect nobetter. “In this world ye have tribulation.” (John 16:33) If we do nothave tribulation by the world, it may be because we are of the worldrather than merely in the world.

There are many who identify the great city with Jerusalem, but in myopinion that identification just doesn’t fit with the context of thisbook. If the villain in this book is Rome (which seems indisputable tome), then why would God include a discourse about the judgment ofJerusalem at the hands of that great villain? And why would thoseseven churches in Asia be all that concerned about the judgment ofJerusalem at the hands of Rome, the very power who was persecutingthem? How would Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem provide any com-fort to Christians being persecuted by Rome? It might even have theopposite effect — “You’re worried about Rome? You should be. Lookat what it did to Jerusalem! You’re worried that you’ve been forgottenby God? You should be. He may be punishing you at the hands ofRome just like he’s punishing Jerusalem at the hands of Rome.”

Yes, when you focus on a verse here and a verse there, some of themcould fit the destruction of Jerusalem. (Luke 21:24, for example,looks a lot like Revelation 11:2.) But when you step back and look atthose verses in their context, I think you will discover that from thatperspective they fit Rome much better.

Every description of the villain in this book fits Rome perfectly, andthis description is no exception. The great city pictured here is Rome.

9 For three days and a half men from thepeoples and tribes and tongues and na-tions gaze at their dead bodies and refuseto let them be placed in a tomb, 10 andthose who dwell on the earth will rejoiceover them and make merry and exchangepresents, because these two prophets had


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been a torment to those who dwell on theearth.

Verses 9 and 10 paint a vivid portrait of the wicked world celebratingthe death of the two witnesses. Evil men had once celebrated thedeath of Jesus, no doubt thinking they had at last overcome him andhad the last word — and yet look at what happened just a few dayslater. The evil celebrants in these verses are about to relive that histo-ry. Things are not what they seem!

How long do they gloat? Verse 9 tells us — 3½ days. We know whatthat means! It means the world’s celebration is premature and tem-porary. It means their celebration will not last long. Why? Becausethis apparent defeat is not really a defeat at all, just as Jesus’ apparentdefeat on that cross was no defeat of Jesus at all, but rather was thedefeat of the world and of Satan, the prince of this world.

Those who hate the church celebrate and rejoice at its apparentdemise. Verse 10 tells us that the church had been “a torment” tothose who dwell on the earth. Why? Because those who dwell on theearth were evil, and they did not like to be reminded of that fact.

Are we a torment to those living in sin? Do we set before them anexample of righteous living that would create such torment in them?Why would we want to do that? Because while some of those in tor-ment are likely to strike back at us, others may be led to repentance.The church is not only the light of the world, it is the salt of theworld — and salt sometimes causes torment. Jesus often caused peo-ple to gnash their teeth! When was the last time we did that? (AndI’m not including when we do that to each other!)

How can we avoid ever causing someone torment? By living the sameway they do. In fact, if we proclaim righteousness but live unright-eously, our hypocrisy will cause them great happiness rather thangreat torment. Those who compromise with the world will nevercause the world to experience any torment — at least not in this life.If you want to avoid experiencing what these two witnesses experi-enced, then just blend in with the world.


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Those who dwell upon the earth thought the church had been defeat-ed, and they were very glad to be rid of it. As you recall from our in-troductory classes, the Roman historian Tacitus referred to Christian-ity as a disease, which is how many people see it today.

What about us? Are we friends with the world, or would the worldlike to be rid of us? We know what the Bible has to say about friend-ship with this evil world ― “know ye not that the friendship of theworld is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of theworld is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

This country’s view of Christ is changing, or perhaps I should say haschanged. The Hollywood that produced Ben Hur in 1959 and honoredit with 11 Academy Awards is the same Hollywood that in the late80’s produced The Last Temptation of Christ, which portrays Jesus as alustful sinner, Paul as a lying fraud, and Judas as a selfless hero. Whythe change? Why the attack? Could it be because they are in tormentand are striking out at the source of that torment?

And please note that this is not an attack against religion — it is a veryfocused attack against Christianity. The media establishment thatreleased The Last Temptation is the same media establishment thatpassed on a movie version of The Satanic Verses and balked at publish-ing cartoons showing Mohammed with a bomb in his keffiyeh. Asone critic noted, “When it came to the prospect of enraging the Islam-ic faithful, the instinct for self-preservation took precedence over thecommitment to controversial religious explorations.”

But self-preservation cannot be the sole reason that Christianity isthe focus of their attack. Why? Because they have backed away fromother controversies when self-preservation was never an issue. In1990 when Disney was about to release the movie White Fang, the Hu-mane Society complained that the movie was making “an anti-wolfstatement.” Disney caved immediately, agreeing to remove a dramat-ic scene in which which a wolf attacks a man and to adding a pro-wolfdisclaimer to the end of the film. When the Hopi Indians complainedto Robert Redford about what they called the sacrilegious treatmentof their ancient rites in his film Dark Wind, he caved immediately andmade the changes they requested. It seems that the prospect of being


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labeled anti-wolf produced greater worry in Hollywood than theprospect of being labeled anti-Christ!

The next time you are tempted to befriend this world just rememberwhat this world thinks about and says about your Savior! “Know yenot that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoevertherefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James4:4) And this world is filled with enemies of God. “For many walk, ofwhom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that theyare the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction,whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mindearthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19) You tell me if a better descrip-tion of Hollywood was ever penned!


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revelation lesson 14 class notes - … · revelation ― lesson 14 ... judea, spain, gaul, egypt,...

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